Mate I'm on it upwind riding only goofy kiting ten years and go brazil for few months a year I toeside upwind it's my favourite the lads are on me all the time telling me its wrong bla bla think these boys own worst enemy's living between there ears great post I joined to reply to you all the best keep up the onisty and have fun

Mate I'm on it upwind riding only goofy kiting ten years and go brazil for few months a year I toeside upwind it's my favourite the lads are on me all the time telling me its wrong bla bla think these boys own worst enemy's living between there ears great post I joined to reply to you all the best keep up the onisty and have fun

windsuks wrote:Yup your a weirdo!!
Only kidding, who cares what the others think...
There's way to much pressure like "loose the straps dude" "gotta do boots man" "unhook bro"
Just do what ya love doing rather than what the rest want you to do!

I'm guessing you have a side-shore-ish swell direction, or riding in very offshore wind?

cross on to cross shore wind.

Has to be cross-on relative to the wave direction to ride back "upwind". The reason you prefer upwind is because you ride a TT. I think it is more difficult to ride down the line on a TT than a directional board. You need plenty of turns to keep the tension on, especially if it is cross-on and winds are light.

cross on to cross shore wind.[/quote]
Has to be cross-on relative to the wave direction to ride back "upwind". The reason you prefer upwind is because you ride a TT. I think it is more difficult to ride down the line on a TT than a directional board. You need plenty of turns to keep the tension on, especially if it is cross-on and winds are light.[/quote]

It might be harder to go DTL on a twintip but a standard twintip has problems going up the line as well. I use both the Mako 150 and strapless low and mid volume directionals and the Mako doesn't have the float to power deep turns up the face unless the wind is just right (slightly more onshore). The directional has the advantage when you've shot too far off the face to turn hard back up it because you can put the kite high for a moment, slow down and let the wave catch you and use the wave power to get your speed back.

Has to be cross-on relative to the wave direction to ride back "upwind". The reason you prefer upwind is because you ride a TT. I think it is more difficult to ride down the line on a TT than a directional board. You need plenty of turns to keep the tension on, especially if it is cross-on and winds are light.

It might be harder to go DTL on a twintip but a standard twintip has problems going up the line as well. I use both the Mako 150 and strapless low and mid volume directionals and the Mako doesn't have the float to power deep turns up the face unless the wind is just right (slightly more onshore). The directional has the advantage when you've shot too far off the face to turn hard back up it because you can put the kite high for a moment, slow down and let the wave catch you and use the wave power to get your speed back.

Very true

Peter

Last edited by Peter_Frank on Mon Apr 29, 2013 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes I am also an upwind weirdo when the conditions are right. I am the kind of kite boarder who lets his conditions dictate how and what I ride. so I'm not the guy riding a surfboard in flat water or a TT with boots in the ocean. These guys in my opinion are the weirdos. Some of the best waves I have caught kite boarding have been up wind barrels. My favorite thing to do is let go of the bar and get way over the front of my board long board style. So yes let all the guys who only go DTL all the time complain on the beach on a upwind wave day as I grin and say I had a great sesh bra

To be exact im on a mutant with a trifin thruster setup at the back. So i have better drive and turning ability on the wave face than a standard tt. But yes,it doesn't have the float of quick turning of a standard cupboard.

But i don't think that's it. I can rip downwind when i want. But i much rather rip unwind ride the shallows, then boost off a wave and stay in the wave and whitewash section having fun going in and out repeatedly. Ripping downward then taking out to sea for 5mins to get back upwind is less fun to me.